Collapsible handle for baby carriage



Feb. 2, 1965 P. c. SMITH ETAL COLLAPSIBLE HANDLE FOR BABY CARRIAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 4, 1962 INVENTOR$ Feb. 2, 1965 P. 0. SMITH ETAL 3,168,330

COLLAPSIBLE HANDLE FOR BABY CARRIAGE Filed May 4, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS 245/4 6. S/ll/TA United States Patent 3,168,330 COLLAPSIBLE HANDLE FOR BABY CARRIAGE Paul C. Smith, Pacific Palisades, and Richard E. Hyde, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors to Strolee of California, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Filed May 4, 1962, Ser. No. 192,407 6 Claims. (Cl. 280-4737) This invention relates to an improved baby carriage and more specifically, to a collapsible handle therefor.

It is desirable for purposes of storage and transportation to be able to fold a baby stroller into as compact a package as possible and yet to have the handle or pusher extend upwardly to a convenient height when in use.

It is an object of this invention to provide a handle formed of movable sections wherein a novel catch means is utilized to retain the sections in the desired position.

Still a further object of such invention is to provide a collapsible handle structure which will not interfere with the normal folding action of the stroller.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a rugged and dependable structure which minimizes possible injury to an infant in the stroller.

Other objects and advantages will be readily apparent from the following description.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a stroller embodying this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a view taken along line 22 of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a View taken along line 33 of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a view taken along line 44 of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a view taken along line 55 of FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 5 with the detent in the withdrawn position.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view with the handle extended.

FIGURE 8 is a view taken along line 8-8 of FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary view of the detent actuating member.

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary perspective of the handle illustrating the opening therein for the operating wire.

FIGURE 11 is a perspective of the cam.

FIGURE 12 is a section taken along line 1212 of FIGURE 5.

In Preisler Patent No. 2,728,580 issued December 27, 1955, the basic stroller construction is described and for details relating to such construction, reference is made thereto. In general, referring to FIGURE 1, the stroller comprises a base frame 24) mounted upon four wheels 27, a U-shaped handle frame generally designated 24 is pivotally connected as at 26 to the base frame and at 28 to arm rest frame 30. The frame 30 is U-shaped and the open arms are pivotally connected to a U-shaped toggle bore 32 in turn pivotally connected to the base frame permitting the stroller to be folded from the open position of FIGURE 1 to a compact package.

It is to be noted that the U-shaped handle frame in this embodiment is broken into interconnecting parts. A pair of tubular arms 34 one on each side of the stroller are pivotally connected at 26 to the base frame and at 28 to the arm rest frame. A sleeve 36 is attached to each arm 34 at its uppermost extremity by means of rivets 38. A tubular U-shaped handle member 40 has a pair of legs telescopically fitting one into each sleeve 36. Since each leg and its locking mechanism is identical, only one will be described in detail.

Referring now to FIGURES 5 and 6, each leg of the 3,168,330 -Patented Feb. 2, 1965 handle member 40 is hollow and has an anchor plug 42 in its open end. The center of the plug is bent inwardly and punctured as at 46 to form an anchor for the lower end of spring 44. The upper end of the spring passes through a hole 48 in cam member 50 which is hollow and has its upper ends bent inwardly as at 52. An operating wire 54 has one end thereof looped through hole 56 in the cam member to anchor same. The other end of the operating wire 54 passes through opening 58 in handle member 40 and is secured to ring 60. The hole 58 is formed by punching in a tab 62 and bending same back- Wardly to present only a smooth surface to wire 54 to reduce wear thereon.

Each leg of handle member 40 is provided with a hole 63 at the outer surface thereof which houses a spring detent 64. The detent is mounted upon a leaf spring 66 the legs of which engage the inner surface of the tubular handle member 40 (see FIGURE 12), urging the detent to project as far as possible out of hole 63.

When ring 60 is pulled, its force is transmitted through wire 54 to cam member 50 raising same against the lower leg of leaf spring 66 camming the detent 64 into a withdrawn position (see FIGURE 6), the inwardly bent end 52 of the cam member avoiding damage to the spring.

When the handle member 40 is in the fully extended position (see FIGURE 7), the detent 64 seats in a suitable opening 68 holding the handle in the extended position. When it is desired to collapse, the handle rings are pulled withdrawing the detents and releasing the handle member 40 to be pushed downwardly to the position illustrated in FIGURE 1. When it is desired to return the handle to the extended position, same is merely pulled outwardly. The lower extremity of each sleeve 36 is flared as at 70 in the path of detent 64 to cam same to a retracted position as the handle is raised until the detent is opposite one of the holes 68 when spring 66 urges same into the locking position. A series of holes 68 may be provided to adjust the height of the handle.

A screw 72 having an enlarged head is provided adjacent the end of each leg of handle member 40 which will not pass sleeve 36 preventing accidental disassembly of the mechanism.

While what hereinbefore has been described is the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is readily apparent that alterations and modifications can be resorted to without departing from the scope of this invention and such alterations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A collapsible handle for a baby stroller comprising: a sleeve having a detent receiving hole therein, a handle member having a leg slidably mounted within said sleeve, said leg having a spring loaded detent adapted to project into said hole, and means carried by said handle member for retracting said detent.

2. A collapsible handle for a baby stroller comprising: a sleeve having a detent receiving hole therein, a handle member having a leg slidably mounted within said sleeve, said leg having a spring loaded detent adapted to project into said hole, cam means within said leg means, and means carried by said handle member for moving said cam means to engage and restrict said detent.

3. A collapsible handle for a baby stroller comprising: a sleeve having a detent receiving hole therein, a handle member having a leg slidably mounted within said sleeve, said leg having a spring loaded detent adapted to project into said hole, cam means within said leg means, means carried by said handle member for moving said cam means to engage and retract said detenct, and a spring within said leg biasing said cam means out of engagement with said detent.

4. A collapsible handle for a baby stroller comprising:

a sleeve having a detent receiving hole therein, a handle member having a leg slidably mounted Within said sleeve, said leg having a spring loaded detent adapted to project into said hole, a cam member within said leg, a spring member moves said cam member into engagement With said detent to retract same.

5. -A collapsible handle fora baby stroller comprising: a sleeve having a-detent receiving hole therein, a handle member having a leg slidably mounted Within said sleeve, said leg having a spring loaded detent adapted to project into said hole, means carried by sa'id ihandle member for retracting said detent, said sleeve having a flaredcam surface at one extremity to depress said detent.

6. A collapsible handle for a baby stroller comprising: a sleeve having a detent receiving 'hole therein, a handle 4 member having a leg slidably mounted within said sleeve, said leg having a spring loaded detent adapted to project into said hole, cam means Within said leg means, and means carried by said handle member for moving said cam means to engage and retract said detent, said sleeve having a flared cam surface at one extremity to depress said detent.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 251,069 12/81 Shaw 108-146 390,406 10/ 88 Sittig' 108146 478,556 7/92 Bettman 292'l70 2,016,132 10/35 Bergslien 248409 2,120,534 6/38 Wild 292170 2,273,791 2/42 Wirgin 248l91 2,886,337 5/59 Quisenberry 280-36 3,010,731 1.1/61- Kenney 28047.37 X

PHILIP ARNOLD, Primary Examiner. 

1. A COLLAPSIBLE HANDLE FOR A BABY STROLLER COMPRISING: A SLEEVE HAVING A DETENT RECEIVING HOLE THEREIN, A HANDLE MEMBER HAVING A LEG SLIDABLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID SLEEVE SAID LEG HAVING A SPRING LOADED DETENT ADAPTED TO PROJECT INTO SAID HOLE, AND MEANS CARRIED BY SAID HANDLE MEMBER FOR RETRACTING SAID DETENT. 